CHAPTER TWO!
────red gate (1).

❝GUESS WERE STUCK?❞

"H-HELLO!" [Y/N] NERVOUSLY GREETS with a closed eyed smile and a wave.

jin-ah to say the least, was very confused.

her eyes were wide as pie plates and she kept looking between her annoying big brother and the prettiest girl she's ever seen stand next to him.

"she's gonna be staying with us. so, treat her well." jin-woo explains plainly placing his hand onto of the girl's head.

[y/n]'s face palms at her new friend's stupidity while jin-ah almost faints on the spot.

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IN ONLY A few hours of arriving, jin-ah had already claimed [y/n] as her new older sister.

the two girls bonded so well it scared jin-woo a bit. but he couldn't help to watch with a smile at the two laughing together.

night came and jin-ah was fast asleep on the couch leaning against [y/n]'s shoulder who was still awake. the young girl wanted to watch her favorite dramas with her and a marathon occurred but it wasn't long before she fell asleep.

the [h/c] haired women chuckles softly at her light snores as she hears jin-woo walking over.

he was already in his night clothes and he hands her some folded clothes. the girl tilts her head in confusion and he adverts his gaze.

"you can borrow my old clothes that don't fit me anymore until we buy can new clothes for you. i'll take the couch and you can use my bed." he explains rubbing the back of his neck.

[y/n] blinks, feeling her face heats up and realizes something. "n-no! it's fine i can sleep on the couch! i don't wanna take your bed away from you." she frantically denies, she hated being a bother to people who've been kind to her.

jin-woo was going past his limits to make her feel comfortable seeing as he suggested to stick together with no real proper plan, it was the least he could do.

"you're my guest and it was my idea to drag you to korea so suddenly. so, let me make it up to you." he assures as goes over to his sister and picks her so he put her to bed.

the [h/c] haired women sighs quickly noting that it was no use in fighting him. she mutters a quiet "thank you" and heads over to the bathroom to change.

she closes the door behind her and slides to the floor with a dazed expression.

it was a first time in a while she was treated with such kindness, the last people being her parents. receiving that kind of hospitality especially to someone she's met she felt... really happy.

'i don't think i've ever met someone that kind.' she thinks as she looks down at the folded clothes he had given her with a grateful smile.

though unknowingly, [y/n] had already considered jin-woo as her new best friend.

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THE NEXT DAY came sooner than expected.

[y/n] dressed in her white hoodie and some old sweats of jin-woo's. after jin-ah left for school, the two talked even more to get to know each other better.

he gave her some pointers on how to better managed her skills and stats while she gave some pointers on how she handles her daggers. at this point, the two players became a bit closer.

then around 7:30 pm, it was time to head out.

"so, what's the plan for today, mister player." she teases as she puts on her sneakers.

he pays no mind to the nickname and grabs his keys. "i was gonna take you shopping, but we ended talking instead. so we have some business to take care of."

"and that would be?"

"you'll see."

the [h/c] girl deadpans at his vague answer. "will it be fun at least?"

"depending on how you define fun." jin-woo explains as he looks over to her with a knowing smirk.

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"IT'S BEEN A while." a man in a suit greets jin-woo with [y/n] and song-i behind him.

the dark haired hunter explained his plan to the [h/c] haired hunter on their way to pick up song-i. which to led her to tease him on how kind he was and the response she got was him pinching her cheeks.

but unbeknownst to [y/n], it was also a chance for jin-woo to see in her action.

"long time no see, chief ahn." he greets back as chief ahn approaches the two girls.

he outstretches his hand to them with a smile. "i am the chief of the second department of management, ahn sang-min.

"i'm gee-chul an assistant from the same department." another man behind him says as he bows, greeting them.

[y/n] gives a curt bow, "i'm hunter [y/n] [l/n], its a pleasure to meet you two." she introduces with a polite smile surprising the two men.

"for a foreigner, your korean is excellent." chul genuinely complements making the girl sweat.

'it's only because of the skill that i got. if not i would be a fumbling mess.' she comments with a awkward grin.

"i was surprised when i received a call from hunter sung jin-woo and wanted to experience a new recruit's training session. since it was a request from none other than hunter sung jin-woo, i've accepted it without hesitation." chief ahn mentions and begins to explain to the three that the rest of the hunters were already informed of their of their presence and that the gate their entering is a c-rank gate.

the [h/c] haired hunter nudges jin-woo with her elbow a bit surprised. "dude you've already made connections with the white tiger guild? gotta say, i'm impressed." she whispers to him with a a smirk only making him chuckle in response.

"it's already past 9 o'clock, let's stop the chatter and get started." a rough voice butts in as the group turns to look who it is.

it was a tall man with noticeable a scar on the right side of his mouth, he wore expensive looking sliver armor with a huge shield on his back.

[y/n] feels the young girl hid behind her as if she was intimidated by the tall man and she pats the girl's head in reassurance.

'she's my daughter now.' the hunter silently vows with a smile.

"we're not here for a picnic." the tall hunter mocks and walks away from them as [e/c] eyes narrows at his figure.

"who is he?" jin-woo suddenly asks also looking at the hunter with a raised eyebrow.

chief ahn sweats a bit. "he's our new a-rank recruit, but he seemed a offended after hearing that i have accepted your request. saying that a dungeon isn't a place to fool around." he explains.

"an a-rank?" [y/n] questions, shoving her hands in her pockets and the man nods.

"his name is kim-chul and as you can see, he's a tank. this attack force is composed of 1 a-rank, 7 b-ranks and 4 c-ranks, for a total of 12 people." chief ahn continues.

the female player furrows her eyebrows. 'i don't know how they do raids here, but it's seems overkill if there's an a-rank on the attack force for a c-rank gate.' she thinks and jin-woo seemed to have the same thought.

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SONG-I SMILES BRIGHTLY at the two adults as the rest of the attack force begins to enter the gate.

"miss and mister, aren't you coming?" she asks nearly bouncing on her feet, eager to enter the gate.

[y/n] giggles at her excitement. "after you kid." she says and the girl smiles wider. confidently entering the gate first with the two close behind.

but as they do, their senses go off.

'WHAT IS THIS SENSATION?'

they think as they realize how the magic waves of the gate changed drastically.

'we have to get out, now!' [y/n] thinks, trying to leave but feels the gate pushing her through. jin-woo makes an effort to turn around and send out a warning.

"CHIEF AHN! CALL THE MAIN ATTACK FORCE IMMEDIATELY!" he shouts as he feels the gate also push him.

SOON THE TWO PLAYERS FIND THEMSELVES IN A SNOWY WONDERLAND.

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SOME ATTACK FORCE members panic as they try to figure out where they ended up.

[y/n] and jin-woo scan the area with narrowed eyes. keeping their guard up.

"i don't feel anything suspicious..." she mumbles as her friend beside her was silent.

song-i stayed closed to the [h/c] haired hunter. "miss? is there something wrong?" she asks, as she was about to respond when her senses go off.

before the three knew it [y/n] held a blue glowing arrow that was inches away from hitting song-i, who had a horrifying look on her face.

soon the attack force was ambushed by shower of ice arrows as they all scream in panic.

"THERE IN THE TREES! ITS ICE EVLES!"

someone yells as jin-woo and [y/n] look over to the tall trees with dangerous eyes pushing song-i behind them.

ice grew on the female player's hand with a sting but she payed no mind. 'ice elves... at that distance, i don't think me and jin-woo could've sensed them.'

"their eyes are sharp. they managed to single out the two weakest hunters in the attack force." [y/n] mumbles to her friend who only nodded.

"if this was a few months ago, that arrow would've been aimed at us." he comments lowly while she huffs with a sarcastic chuckle in agreement.

soon the ice elf who shot the arrow swiped his thumb over his neck with a wide smirk as if to taunt the female hunter.

'OH?!' [y/n] thinks with a smirk, her eyes glowing a dangerous dark blue clearly ticked off as she crushes the ice arrow in her hand.

then the ice eleves disappear.

'i'll kill you with my bare hands, icy bastard.' she silently declares as someone approaches the three.

"i don't think they're welcoming us." kim-chul says stating the obvious, gaining everyone's attention.

still irritated, [y/n] deadpans and her eyebrow twitches. "oh wow, who would have guessed? it's not like one of your men died right in front of us." she comments sarcastically causing jin-woo to snort.

'i had this girl pegged to be the type that's kind to everyone, seems like i was wrong. she's a riot!' he thinks as she smiles cheekily at him.

the a-rank hunter ignores her comment and continues speaking. "i'm sure how many of you guys have understood the situation yet, but we are inside a red gate. we can not return until all of us are dead or the dungeons opens." he explains putting on his helmet.

the rest of group freaks out at the mention of the rate gate while song-i turns to [y/n] and jin-woo.

"miss? mister? what is a red gate?" she asks with innocent look which makes the female's heart clench.

'god, she is the cutest kid.' she thinks resisting to hug the girl.

"it's a special gate that connects us to the outside world." jin-woo starts. "once we step inside the gate closes off completely and nobody else can come and help. it's a place we cannot escape until the boss is killed or the dungeon opens on its own."

"IN OTHER WORDS, WE'RE STRANDED."

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THE A-RANK hunter had everyone gather around for some type of meeting.

"that's why i will form a separate team to clear the dungeon with me." kim-chul announces catching [y/n] and jin-woo's attention.

"oh, this man is stupid." she mumbles with a deadpan.

he leans to her a bit closer. "they have a higher chance of survival by sticking with an a-rank hunter." the dark haired hunter replies quietly and she nods.

if jin-woo was being honest, it was nice to have someone to share his thoughts with and not hide his system from someone.

as people were volunteering to join kim-chul, he was suddenly choosing who comes with him. pointing to all the hunters who were lower than a c-rank and calling them dead weight.

[y/n] wasn't paying attention to his words seeing as he was full of himself just because he's an a-rank, when a girl with dark haired and vibrant green eyes passes by her.

"kim-chul, that person..." she trails as the [h/c] haired hunter perk up. "he didn't notice the arrows coming." then, she turns to meet her [e/c] eyes with a smile.

"YOU'RE NOT AN E-RANK, RIGHT?"

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"THEN, LET ME ask you a question as well." [y/n] replies, facing her.

"how are guys so calm for new recruits?"

she keeps her voice low as not let the anyone else hear. "the first lesson we've been taught is "anything can happen inside the dungeon.' especially, hunter kim-chul has received special coaching. he's destined to join the white tiger's main attack force." she explains and the [h/c] hunter nods.

soon, both teams head out in opposite directions. one following the path and one entering the forest.

jin-woo walked with the green eyed girl as [y/n] kept an eye on song-i who was playing in the snow.

he snorts as he watches his friend get hit in the face by snowball, the culprit being the young girl. she wipes it off with narrowed eyes while song-i was laughing and pointing at her.

she stops laughing when she gets hit back with a snowball. the girl starts running away in circles from [y/n] as she easily carried a clump of snow to dump on her.

"you and that foreigner, you two aren't e-ranks right?" the mage asks as jin-woo hums. looking up almost wanting to avoid the question.

the girl eyes them both. 'they are at least a-ranks. no, maybe...' she thinks as [y/n] approaches them, her hair covered in snow.

the mage walks ahead as someone calls her name, leaving [y/n] and jin-woo alone.

"nice hair." he teases making her playful glare at him only making him chuckle.

she ruffles her [h/t] hair to rid of the snow as she notices that song-i has stayed by the girl she talked to earlier.

jin-woo's grey eyes glance at [y/n] as she continues to rid any leftover snow on her body.

the winter atmosphere brought out her bright [e/c] eyes and [s/c] skin, admittedly she looked pretty.

"do have something on my face?"

her harmonic voice brought him out of his thoughts, not realizing he was staring. he clears his throat and adverts his gaze, thanking for the cold to cover the blush that forms on his face.

[y/n] raises an eyebrow but waves it off. she shoved her hands in her pockets to warm them up and admires the winter wonderland they are in.

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"WAIT!" THE GREEN eyed girl calls, turning to the two players with a worried look.

"we cannot go any further." she declares.

"why?" the two players ask, seemingly confused by her statement.

"can't you see? the area is covered with ice bears territory markings! this entire forest is ice bear territory!" she explains. "we must turn back now! before the monsters arrive!"

[y/n] sighs and faces her. "so, you're saying this forest is full of ice bears." she states calmly.

the girl tilts her in confusion. "yes. s-so we should turn back..." she trails.

"that's why we're moving into the forest." jin-woo adds as the two friends continue walking.

"huh? did you not hear me?! do you want to die?!" the green eyed girl argues, a bit angry.

the two turn to look at her half way. "if this is an ice bear territory, we only have to worry about bears in the forest." jin-woo adds.

"ice bears are more reasonable than ice eleves, don't you think?" [y/n] finishes with a kind smile.

her statement makes the mage's green eyes widened in realization, understanding their logic.

"why, did i not think of that?" she mumbles making the [h/c] haired hunter pat her shoulder in a comforting manner.

"anyways, aren't you cold in that clothing?" jin-woo questions with a deadpan.

"inventory."

to [y/n], she can see his screen as he pulls out brown winter coats for everyone.

"everyone put these on." he orders, handing song-i and [y/n] their coats first.

"you don't want to get frostbite, do you?" the female player grins as she summons her own inventory as she pulls out some winter gloves for everyone.

the rest of the hunters stare an awe at how many items they was giving out with their "spatial magic."

"mister and miss, who are you two really?" song-i asks innocently, holding her coat.

[y/n] gives the young girl a warm smile, already wearing her coat. she crouches down to meet her height and helps her put on the bulky coat as if she was her mother.

song-i eyes sparkle at her action as she buttons up the winter coat securely. suddenly, the young girl feels a hand on her head and looks up to see jin-woo.

"since i'm the one who brought you here, it's my responsibility to protect you." he states, as the girl's cheeks turn a rosy pink.

the female hunger straightens up from her crouched position, still looking at the girl. "same here, you'll be fine if you stay with us, kid." [y/n] states, tapping her nose causing song-i to smile at her.

"however, don't ask us anything." jin-woo states, retracting his hand, as the two turn to look at the other hunters who wore their coats.

"the same applies to all of you." he says, the two bring a fingers to their lips as they speak in unison.

"DON'T ASK ANY QUESTIONS AND DON'T DEMAND ANYTHING FROM US."

CHAPTER TWO! END!
────red gate (1).